The 10 Best Mezzalunas

We spent 40 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top choices for this wiki. Planning on dicing celery or mincing garlic for your favorite recipe? For a different take on the classic kitchen knife, try one of these mezzalunas. Named after the Italian word for "half moon," they feature curved blades that rock back and forth for a quick chopping motion that's great for cheese, herbs, salads, and even pizzas and pies.
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We spent 40 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top choices for this wiki. Planning on dicing celery or mincing garlic for your favorite recipe? For a different take on the classic kitchen knife, try one of these mezzalunas. Named after the Italian word for "half moon," they feature curved blades that rock back and forth for a quick chopping motion that's great for cheese, herbs, salads, and even pizzas and pies.
When users buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn commissions to support our work.
Skip to the best mezzaluna on Amazon.

10. Joseph Joseph Folding

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The Joseph Joseph Folding features innovative pivoting handles that fold over to protect its sturdy blade, with the added benefit of occupying very little space in your kitchen drawer. It needs to be hand washed and dried, but that's a small price to pay given its quality.

9. Westmark Double Blade

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The German-made Westmark Double Blade makes slicing up a pile of vegetables a breeze, producing great chopped salads in half the time of other methods thanks to its two extremely sharp edges, and its dual polypropylene handles allow for precision control.

8. Arctic Circle Alaska Ulu

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For a slightly alternative take on the Italian version, the Arctic Circle Alaska Ulu is a traditional Inuit-style knife. It's beautiful to look at, with a high-contrast wood grain handle, and chops just as well as, if not better than, anything else in the category.

7. Kaylee's Kitchen Chopper

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The Kaylee's Kitchen Chopper comes with a reversible acacia wood cutting board with a rounded groove on one side that's perfectly suited to its blade's curve. The other side is flat with a built-in channel for catching excess juice when you're chopping messy foods.

6. Silchef Premium

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Cleverly crafted from a single piece of stainless steel, the Silchef Premium features two blades to help you get your prep work done in half the time of one-bladed options. Its two sides are joined by a smooth, rounded surface that's easy to grip with one hand.

5. LunaChop 14-Inch

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The LunaChop 14-Inch looks more like a ninja's weapon than a kitchen tool and, indeed, even the toughest vegetables and largest pizzas should fear its mighty blade. It's made entirely from stainless steel and features two long handles for good control.

4. KitchenAid Red

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The KitchenAid Red has a soft handle that fits well in the palm, making it easy to apply the pressure needed to chop vegetables, slice cheese, and mince herbs or garlic. It's dishwasher-safe, which will save you time on cleanup, and includes a protective sheath.

3. Bold Bee Stainless Steel

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Inspired by the classic Italian style, the Bold Bee Stainless Steel sports elegant rounded handles and a 12-inch blade. In addition to being a high-quality cutting device, a portion of the proceeds is donated to charities dedicated to saving the bee population.

2. Checkered Chef Rocker Blade

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The massive Checkered Chef Rocker Blade is long enough to slice across entire pizzas in one motion, and sharp enough to cut through crust on the first pass. It's great for cakes and pies as well, not to mention regular chopping duties.

1. Wüsthof 9-Inch

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From one of the most revered names in cutlery comes the Wüsthof 9-Inch. Heavy-duty and extremely sharp, it can handle anything from mincing garlic to chopping whole salads. It's laser cut from high-carbon German steel, so you know it's top quality.

No Knife Left Behind

To this end, a lot of culinarians amass huge collections of tools both new and old.

It's no secret that the most fun parts of being a chef are lighting things on fire and playing with knives.

It's no secret that the most fun parts of being a chef are lighting things on fire and playing with knives. To this end, a lot of culinarians amass huge collections of tools both new and old. Modern technology provides cutting-edge metal alloys that help knives keep a razor edge long-term, but some of the most classic tools in the kitchen have withstood the test of time. The profiles of the most popular styles of chef's knife, for example, can be traced directly to much older French, German, and Japanese roots. The culinary field, itself, actually dates back to prehistory, when our ancestors began to build additional brain matter likely thanks to the widespread adoption of cooked food.

So, when you see a cleaver hanging on the wall that looks like it was born in an ancient, Chinese, mountaintop forge, you can bet there are some similar antiques lurking in a drawer nearby. After all, if it lasts for decades of professional use, it's safe to say it was made with care and attention in the first place and that it's a useful tool, no matter the current food trends.

Most effective cooking methods are well-established. We've known for a while how to properly chop, sauté, and emulsify ingredients. Traditional French techniques have made up a huge chunk of culinary school curriculum ever since aspiring chefs first stepped foot inside a classroom. So we can have faith that there's a place in the kitchen for old-fashioned methods and tools.

Shoot For The Moon

Many pros will attest that the most useful knife in their kit is their standard chef's knife. This go-to knife generally consists of a straight blade about 7 to 10 inches long with a tapered point. It's true that this simple blade can tackle a lot of different jobs in the kitchen. But specialized tools can make particular tasks far easier, and sometimes, the old implements are the best ones.

That brings us to the mezzaluna. Inspired by old world prep cooks and named after the Italian word meaning half moon, these interesting tools tend to look more suited to hand-to-hand combat than mincing produce. Nevertheless, the mezzaluna has held up over time and continues to have value in a cook's toolbox.

It's true that this simple blade can tackle a lot of different jobs in the kitchen.

There are a few reasons this unique knife serves a great purpose. It's incredibly effective at chopping herbs, for example. Yes, small and moderate amounts of fresh green aromatics can be chopped with a regular knife. For starters, using a mezzaluna makes these jobs faster because each hand is used to make cutting downstrokes, while a chef's knife uses its tip as a fulcrum, making it far less efficient.

The mechanical advantage doesn't just increase speed, though. The handles on these tools let you cut with more overall downward force while expending less energy. So if you're faced with a huge pile of herbs to process and you want to save your wrists some trouble, this is how. Otherwise, you might end up rocking your santoku back and forth until your hands get sore. Similarly, half-moon blades are great for home chefs with joint pain such as arthritis, thanks to how easy they are to grip.

Another reason these are well-suited to rough chops like herbs, dried fruit, nuts, and even chicken salad is their durability. Every time the blade of your chef knife suddenly hits the cutting board, it's pushed slightly out of true. Rapid mincing of herbs can quickly dull your blade without frequent honing. The mezzaluna's curved blade never slams violently against the cutting surface the way a straight blade does. Add in an increased thickness and a one-sided bevel, and they tend to hold up very well where other, more common knives would wear down.

As you may expect, mezzalunas do not excel in precision cutting. But that highlights one of their strengths: cuts, like the heritage of the knife itself, are simpler. The textures are rougher and the prepped food isn't as refined and perfect as you might expect from a Michelin star restaurant. And it's this rustic experience that's the cornerstone to some amazing meals in European cuisine and beyond.

So Many Knives, So Little Time

You'll notice right away that while all the options feature rounded blades, that's where most of the similarities end. There are small, one-handed models that work well for turning a pile of greens into a chopped salad with just a few strokes. Some of the most popular, larger models operate with both hands, giving you that added leverage and making your job much easier.

Some of the most popular, larger models operate with both hands, giving you that added leverage and making your job much easier.

Even the handles vary greatly; some are fixed like that of a knife, some are round knobs that provide extra power, and some even swivel closed when not in use to protect the blade. Most pizza places use an extra-large version of the mezzaluna to slice their pies in seconds, but even the medium-size half-moons work perfect on a pizza at home. Speaking of pies, any of the single-bladed options will work great for cutting sweet, warm, gooey, pecan or cherry goodness.

As with any knife, you need to keep these clean and sharp in order to maintain high performance. Most modern knives have a double bevel, where both sides of the knife's edge are ground and honed to meet in the middle at a sharp point. Some mezzalunas use only a single bevel. Only having one side ground to sharpness can keep food from sticking and building up on the flat of the knife during use while also keeping the knife in true. This is most important to remember when sharpening, as you should only sharpen the beveled side of the knife edge. But as long as you keep the blade honed and safely hung after it's cleaned — and not in a drawer where it could get nicked or otherwise damaged — you'll have an effective, old-fashioned, and high-quality tool at your disposal.

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Gabrielle is a writer and hopeful entrepreneur who hails from a tiny town in Virginia. Earlier in her career, she spent a few years in Southern California before moving back to the east coast (but she misses LA every day). An avid and enthusiastic home cook, she is somewhat of an expert at fending off attempted food thievery by her lazy boxer.

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